by Jacques Werth
It is very difficult to hit a baseball, thrown at over 80 miles per hour, with a regulation sized bat. You get to swing the bat at the ball up to three times, each time you get up to bat. If you get a hit one out of every four times at bat, that’s up to twelve attempts to hit the ball. Almost any team will pay you $2,000,000 a year to do that. You also get a three month vacation and free coaching. If you can get a hit one out of every three times you go to bat, you can make upwards of $5,000,000 per year. That is the sports entertainment business.
In most other businesses, salespeople only make about $165,000 per year to sell one out of four prospects. On average they get about 4 attempts to sell each prospect. Salespeople who sell three out of four prospects and only need to make 2 attempts per prospect, often make upwards of $700,000 – and they have to pay for their own coaching. However, it’s a lot easier than hitting a baseball.